The LG G Pad 7.0 strikes a nice balance between price and features, making it a good starting point for entry-level Android tablets.

There's plenty of parity between entry-level Android tabletsin the 7-inch range—they're all the same size, offer similar feature sets, and are comparably priced. That's a good thing for consumers, but makes the buying decision a bit trickier. The $149.99 (8GB) LG G Pad 7.0 is a close analogue to Samsung's entry-level Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, offering a nearly identical feature set, but for $50 less. The tradeoff here is paltry built-in storage; the $149 Asus MeMO Pad 7 offers triple the amount, but sacrifices the IR-emitter and faster 5GHz Wi-Fi found on both the G Pad and Galaxy Tab. It's all about give and take at this price point, but the G Pad 7.0 strikes a better balance than the Galaxy Tab and stands on equal footing as the MeMO Pad. You'll have to spend a bit more for our Editors' Choice small-screen tablet, the Google Nexus 7, which still offers great performance more than a year after its release.

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We've already reviewed the larger LG G Pad 10.1, which shares many features with the 7-inch model, while offering nearly identical performance and software. We tested each separately, but we'll be sharing some info between the two reviews.

Design and FeaturesAs one might guess, the G Pad 7.0 looks like a shrunken version of the G Pad 10.1. The design is, in a word, uninspired. The soft-touch rubber finish feels slightly less grippy here and attracts grease more readily, both of which lend the G Pad 7.0 a budget feel. At 7.4 by 4.48 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and 10.34 ounces, the G Pad is noticeably larger than the Galaxy Tab 4 (7.36 by 4.25 by 0.35 inches and just 9.74 ounces). Power and Volume buttons are on the right edge, while the 3.5mm headphone jack, IR-emitter, and covered microSD card slot are on the top edge.

The 7-inch, 1,280-by-800-pixel LCD looks reasonably sharp at 216ppi and viewing angles are wide. It doesn't get quite as bright as the Galaxy Tab 4's display, but is mostly on par with low-cost tablets like the Asus MeMO Pad 7. There are two small speaker grilles on the back of the G Pad, which put out unsurprisingly anemic audio.

Of the 8GB of internal storage, only 3.64GB is available to users out of the box. Our 64GB microSD card worked fine, but with some apps taking up more than 1GB of storage in some cases, the G Pad 7 is pretty limited.

In a battery rundown test, which loops a video with screen brightness set to max and Wi-Fi on, the G Pad 7 lasted 8 hours, 2 minutes. That's a good deal longer than the Tab 4's 5 hours, 23 minutes in the same test.

Performance and AndroidInside, there's a quad-core, 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC, which is more or less the de facto choice for budget-minded Android devices. That's a good thing, though, as this chip has proven more than capable of delivering smooth performance for the price. Benchmarks results were right in line with the similarly equipped Galaxy Tab 4, and the G Pad felt mostly responsive in day-to-day usage. I noticed the occasional stuttering animation or slight delay for scrolling through websites, but nothing too egregious. The biggest annoyance was how long it could take to register an orientation change; it would only hang for about a second, but that's long enough to become tiresome after a while.

The G Pad runs Android 4.4.2 with the toned-down Optimus UI that made its debut on the G3. The same modern, flat look is here, and I prefer LG's skin to Samsung's TouchWiz. The G Pad also benefits from a litany of software tweaks that go beyond look or feel.

I'm a big fan of LG's Knock On, which lets you wake the tablet by tapping twice anywhere on the screen, and Knock Code is a convenient security alternative to pins or pattern codes. The resizable keyboard makes its way from the G3 to the G Pad, and it just makes sense on larger, touch-screen devices like this one. QPair lets you pair Android phones running version 4.1 or later to the G Pad via Bluetooth to receive notifications and reply to texts or calls. It's a feature we liked on the G Pad 8.3 and continues to prove useful.

Last, but not least, are LG's flexible multitasking options. You can do both split screen mode, where each app occupies half of the screen, or use QSlide to launch apps concurrently in small floating windows with adjustable transparency. It's not quite as smooth as it is on the G3, but it's easy enough to open up instances of Gmail and Maps to send off quick directions or browse the Web while watching a YouTube video.

ConclusionsThe LG G Pad 7.0 doesn't do a lot to stand out from the crowded field of small-screen tablets, but some unique and useful software features coupled with an aggressive price give it a leg up on competitors. Spec for spec, it's the Galaxy Tab 4's equal, but Samsung charges $50 more, and I'd argue LG's software execution is superior. The G Pad 7.0 offers great value if you can deal with relatively modest performance and a simply average display. Our Editors' Choice for small screen tablets remains the Google Nexus 7, which has a sharper full HD panel and stock Android experience with guaranteed timely updates.

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About the Author

Before joining the consumer electronics team at PCMag, Eugene worked at local news station NY1 doing everything from camera work to writing scripts. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010. Outside of work Eugene enjoys TV, loud music, and making generally healthy and responsible life choices.

LG G Pad 7.0

LG G Pad 7.0

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